The Manufacturing Marketer Marketing ROI | IMC Live
Sep 11, 2025
Joe Sullivan, co-founder of Gorilla 76 and manufacturing marketing veteran, shares his perspective on measuring marketing impact in long, consultative sales cycles. He discusses when ROI conversations are fair and how channel, audience and market shape expectations. Short tests, leading indicators and clear metric storytelling are highlighted as ways to prove progress and win leadership buy-in.
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ROI Becomes The Default Question
- Manufacturers default to asking "What's the ROI?" because spending decisions demand clear financial returns.
- Many leaders lack other evaluation frameworks and see marketing as a black box, so ROI becomes the default question.
Answer ROI With Nuance
- Treat ROI as an appropriate early question but answer with nuance and realistic timelines.
- Set expectations that return windows vary by channel, audience, and prior track record.
Be The Company's Marketing Advisor
- Act as a marketing advisor, not just a tactician, by aligning activities to company outcomes.
- Recommend tactics that map to prioritized business goals and define how success will be measured.